Julio Crawford had faced a sentence of between five years and life in prison for injury to a child.

Photo By Jazmine Ulloa/julloa@express-news.net

Police said Julio Crawford admitted to beating his 1-year-old son Wednesday morning at their West Side home. He could face a capital murder charge if the boy dies, police said.

Julio Crawford told jurors Thursday that he was ashamed of having beaten to death his former girlfriend's 1-year-old son, but his remorse didn't stop the panel from sentencing him to 80 years in prison.

“There's no justification for what happened,” Crawford, 21, testified on the final day of his trial in 290th state District Court.

Crawford faced a sentence of between five years and life in prison for injury to a child, which he pleaded guilty to Tuesday.

It took jurors about three hours to reach their verdict. Crawford will not be eligible to apply for parole for 30 years.

Prosecutors said Crawford repeatedly punched Israel Perez in the face on Sept. 14, 2011, to stop the child from crying.

Israel suffered brain trauma and swelling, bleeding inside the cranial cavity and multiple bruises on his body. The child died at University Hospital two days later when doctors removed him from life support to avoid what they warned would be an inevitable cardiac arrest.

Outside the courtroom, Israel's mother, Angelica Mota, tearfully hugged family members. She said she was relieved upon hearing the sentence, which she thought was just.

“My son can rest in peace now,” Mota said.

Defense attorney John “Bud” Ritenour said he agreed with the jury that his client deserved a prison sentence, but he was surprised by the length of the term. His client had hoped for something closer to 20 years, he said.

Crawford gave multiple false stories to officers on the day of the incident regarding how Israel received his injuries before informing them that he was responsible.

During his testimony Thursday, Crawford said he didn't immediately tell police he beat Israel because he feared “the pain I would cause everyone in the family.”

“I was ashamed of my actions,” Crawford said. “I was afraid of what people would think of me.”

Crawford admitted to drinking alcohol and not sleeping the night before the incident. He said he couldn't remember specific details regarding the beating, such as how many times he hit Israel, because he blacked out.

That doesn't make sense, prosecutor Chris DeMartino said during closing arguments, explaining that Crawford would have immediately told police of his memory lapse if it really had occurred.

DeMartino and co-counsel Christine Cangelosi-Kelley also challenged the notion that Crawford has taken responsibility for his actions, citing what they saw as the defendant's reluctance to share details about the incident.

“You would think he would, at the very least, beg for forgiveness from you and have the guts to describe what he put this little boy through,” DeMartino said. “... By him saying he doesn't remember, that is a cop-out. He remembers every punch.”

Ritenour said he believes the blackout was possible but acknowledged it was not an excuse for his client's actions.

“If that dead baby is forgotten by any of us involved in this case in a long time, something's wrong with us,” he said.